This is the only such a day in the year when a white-red parade walks along the most famous street in the world – the Fifth Alley in Manhattan in New York. This day belongs to Poles and the Americans of the Polish origin who begin the month of the Polish heritage with the Parade named Pułaski. By attending in this event, since the year 1937 the Polish Diaspora of the Eastern Coast of the United States has been manifesting their pride on the Polish origin and attachment to the country of their fathers. This year jubilee 80th Parade named Pułaski took place on the first Sunday of October under the motto ‘Tadeusz Kościuszko – a hero of two nations’, as the year 2017 was proclaimed the Year of Tadeusz Kościuszko by UNESCO on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of his death.

The parade, as usually, was preceded by the solemn Holy Mass in the New York cathedral of St. Patrick, celebrated by archbishop Wojciech Polak, the primate of Poland. The Grand Marshal of the Parade was Sławomir Platta. This significant event was attended also by guests from Poland, among the others, senators of the Republic of Poland Adam Bielan and Anna Maria Anders. The parade consisted of not only Poles, organizations of Polish Diaspora, parishes, schools, but also representatives of the USA authorities and Americans appreciating the presence of our compatriots in their country.

The culmination of this year Parade named Pułaski was a concert on the stage SummerStage in the Central Park – it was the first such event in history. For the Polish Diaspora the greatest hits were sung by, among the others, Krzysztof Cugowski, Kamil Bednarek and a Jamaican singer Shaggy. The concert was conducted by an actor Andrzej Młynarczyk and an American TV journalist Rita Cosby – a daughter of a Warsaw insurgent.

The events such as the Parade named Piłsudski do not only contribute to raising pride on the Polish origin, but also are the manifestation of Poles’ presence in the USA and remind of a great contribution which they have in the functioning of this country for a few centuries.